[Other Sport] F1 2024

[Audax]

Well I guess it will come down to how much Red Bull want to keep their man and / or whether Horner himself feels this is survivable. I look at what has come out overnight and think, 'ok - what will be released next?'

This feels like it is building rather than going away and whilst it is only my instinct, things like this rarely end up survivable for high-profile individuals. I think he will be gone in days, tbh.

Oh yeah, I agree. I suspect one way or another this doesn't end until something substantial happens: either the mysterious puppeteer behind the scenes wins and Horner goes, or the puppeteer is exposed and dealt with (harshly - I would expect court proceedings).

There's clearly someone with an agenda who wants Horner out. I'm kinda avoiding reading the whole leak at the moment - I'm of the view it shouldn't be out in the public like this and I don't have a right to read it. So I've seen bits and pieces that have passed through my Twitter feed only, and from those pieces what I'm seeing is something that for at least a large part appears to have been a two-way consensual affair, with clumsy dirty flirting from both sides. Horner seems to have been more invested in it than the woman. Morally, as a married man and a man in a position of power I think he's well in the wrong. From an employment law side of things ... I can see why (as I say, not read everything) Red Bull didn't dismiss immediately. I would expect there's more in the independent report that's not so easy to leak (eg verbal testimony that makes it clearer who started the whole thing, how it started, how it ended, etc).

 

[Audax]

Right, back to the on track action. We're now 3 sessions into season 2024 and we've not yet seen a Red Bull finish a session fastest. In Practice 3, we've got Sainz quickest, Alonso second, and Verstappen third. Sainz set his time later than the others and may have had a better track, but Alonso set his time only slightly after Verstappen. Perez was nearly 0.25s down on Verstappen, but that was enough to relegate him to 8th as Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, and Russell all slotted in between Perez and Verstappen.

One word of caution: the Red Bull's only used a single set of softs during the session. Their first runs were done on the hards, so they may not have been quite as "dialled in" for their qually sim attempts.

Regardless, I have a feeling we might see Verstappen have to work hard for pole, and Perez may find himself in a spot of bother if he can't match Verstappen. There's other cars in the mix. Based on the running so far, my general impression on how the teams stack up currently looks like this:

Red Bull
Ferrari
McLaren / Mercedes
Aston Martin
VCARB
Haas / Sauber / Williams
Alpine

I think the drivers we'll most likely see go out in the first part of qually are:

Gasly, Ocon, Sargeant, Zhou, Bottas

Also at risk if they don't nail their first runs:

Magnussen, Albon

 

[Audax]

On the Horner side of things: It's dominating the talk in the F1 paddock. Domenicali (FOM) and Mohammed Ben Sulayem (FIA) had a meeting where it was discussed. Horner and Domenicali have had (maybe still are having) a meeting. A Horner / MBS meeting is planned. And apparently it's now expected that more information will be made public by the leaker at 6pm edit: that's 6pm Bahrain time, so shortly before Qually starts.

 

[Bry Nylon]

On the Horner side of things: It's dominating the talk in the F1 paddock. Domenicali (FOM) and Mohammed Ben Sulayem (FIA) had a meeting where it was discussed. Horner and Domenicali have had (maybe still are having) a meeting. A Horner / MBS meeting is planned. And apparently it's now expected that more information will be made public by the leaker at 6pm.

Yup. Like I said, when I saw the leaked messages late last night my first thought was, 'ok - what will be released next?' That clearly wasn't the end of it.

 

[Withdean11]

I managed to get 26/1 on Hamilton qualifying in P1 yesterday just after FP2. Was down to 5/1 this morning. Not a fan of him at all, but come on Lewis..!

 

[Audax]

I managed to get 26/1 on Hamilton qualifying in P1 yesterday just after FP2. Was down to 5/1 this morning. Not a fan of him at all, but come on Lewis..!

Don't see it myself. Pole will be either a Ferrari or Verstappen. Mercedes turned their engines up during Practice 2, while Ferrari and Red Bull still had theirs being run conservative. Practice 3 this morning gives a better picture IMO.

My bolt-from-the-blue surprise pole position choice would be Alonso. I think he'll fade in qually and be more like P5-ish, but if the pace he had earlier was genuinely like-for-like with Verstappen (ie same fuel load, same engine settings) then he might be in the mix.

 

[Withdean11]

Don't see it myself. Pole will be either a Ferrari or Verstappen. Mercedes turned their engines up during Practice 2, while Ferrari and Red Bull still had theirs being run conservative. Practice 3 this morning gives a better picture IMO.

My bolt-from-the-blue surprise pole position choice would be Alonso. I think he'll fade in qually and be more like P5-ish, but if the pace he had earlier was genuinely like-for-like with Verstappen (ie same fuel load, same engine settings) then he might be in the mix.

Me neither, but at that price i couldn't resist.

 

[Audax]

Spoiler: Q1 results comment

Gasly, Ocon, Sargeant, Zhou, Bottas

Nailed it

Q3 could be *very* interesting. Maybe Verstappen won't have things all his own way this season...

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Yup. Like I said, when I saw the leaked messages late last night my first thought was, 'ok - what will be released next?' That clearly wasn't the end of it.

I read a few of them and my over riding impression was how dull they were. It was hardly "Do you want to see me Elephant?" stuff.

That's a shame as I was hoping he'd have been stitched right up.

 

[Audax]

Spoiler: Q2 comments

So, Red Bull and Ferrari finally turn their engines up. Verstappen vs Ferrari for pole, Alonso vs Mercedes for best-of-the-rest.

Oh ... and Hulkenberg pulling more miracles in that Haas.

 

[kojak]

What time does the Max Verstappen Grand Prix start?

 

[chickens]

What time does the Max Verstappen Grand Prix start?

Another season of that is it? I’ll tune in for the start of next season.

 

[kojak]

I read a few of them and my over riding impression was how dull they were. It was hardly "Do you want to see me Elephant?" stuff.

That's a shame as I was hoping he'd have been stitched right up.

woman flirts with boss, doesn't come across
then smells the money

even MB is scared of losing his job

if only James Hunt was still around

 

[crodonilson]

woman flirts with boss, doesn't come across
then smells the money

even MB is scared of losing his job

if only James Hunt was still around

The woman on SSN didn't see it that way, they seem deeply unimpressed Horner is still there.

 

[chickens]

Thank God for MotoGP.

 

[bhafc99]

What time does the Max Verstappen Grand Prix start?

There are rumours that he might finish second in one race this year, just to liven it up a bit.

 

[Dr Q]

Snooze fest already unfortunately

 

[JackB247]

Predictions after a dreadful first race, only matched by the dross the Albion served up at Craven Cottage:

1. Red Bull win every race. Max wins WDC including 20 race wins and wins the title with 5 races to go.
2. Alonso to announce retirement after a mediocre season back in the mid pack with Aston.
3. Renault announce intention to leave Formula 1 given the atrocious car that Alpine have produced.
4. Ferrari/Mercedes have another close battle for P2, with the latter eventually coming out on top as they develop what is still a new concept car.
5. F1 haemorrhages viewers as even regular fans start to switch off as they can't watch another season of uncompetitive racing.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I read a few of them and my over riding impression was how dull they were. It was hardly "Do you want to see me Elephant?" stuff.

That's a shame as I was hoping he'd have been stitched right up.

My feelings are the same, it seems a two way convo from the ones I've seen, there might be more to come.

He's married, so shouldn't be doing it, sacked? I don't think there's enough from what has been released so far.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I only watched it at half time in the Albion game but it looked an absolute snooze fest. Red Bull 1 and 2 at a canter, the rest battling it out for the minors.

Maybe next year when the regs change?